Information service method, data terminal unit, data transmitting and receiving apparatus, and data transmitting apparatus

ABSTRACT

Program data and information associated with at least one consumer commodity that appears in a program of the program data are synchronously transmitted. The program data and the associated information are received, and the program is reproduced and displayed on a display. One of a plurality of displayed consumer commodities is selected, and at least part of information associated with the selected consumer commodity is extracted and displayed. The extracted information associated with the selected consumer commodity is stored and is accessible after the program is displayed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.10/009,331, filed Nov. 6, 2001, which is a national stage applicationunder 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Application No. PCT/JP01/01758,filed Mar. 7, 2001, which claims priority from Japanese Application No.P2000-068634, filed Mar. 8, 2000, the disclosures of which are herebyincorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to an information service method, a dataterminal unit, a data transmitting and receiving apparatus, and a datatransmitting apparatus, in particular, to those that use program data.

2. Background Art

A mail order sale that presents commodities to a viewer through atelevision broadcast and a catalogue and that he or she orders his orher desired commodity through telephone, mail, and so forth is becomingcommon. Such a shopping method is convenient because the viewer cancheck various commodities through a television broadcast and a catalogueand order the desired commodity therethrough. In recent years, networkcommerce and electronic commerce using networks such as Internet areincreasingly used.

However, when the viewer is watching a television program, if he or shewants belongings of a guest of the television program or a piece offurniture used in the set of a drama (stage), he or she cannot obtainassociated information from the television program and buy such acommodity. When the viewer wants to buy such a commodity, he or sheshould look for a buying method for the commodity from a company thatties up with the television program or through information frommagazines and friends. Recently, a home page for a television programfor example a drama has been publicized. When the viewer accesses such ahome page, he or she can obtain information about the program. However,after watching the program, the viewer should access such a home pageusing his or her personal computer. Likewise, when the viewer wants acompact disc or the like that contains music to which he or she listensin a music program, he or she should spend time and make effort as withthe case of which he or she buys a disc at a store.

Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide an informationservice method, a data terminal unit, a data transmitting and receivingapparatus, and a data transmitting apparatus that allow a viewer toeasily obtain his or her desired commodity and music while watching atelevision program.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To solve the above-described problem, an aspect of the invention is aninformation service method, comprising: synchronously transmittingprogram data and information associated with at least a consumercommodity that appears in a program of the program data, receiving theprogram data and the information associated therewith, reproducing thereceived program data and displaying the reproduced data on a displayingportion, and extracting information associated with one selected from aplurality of consumer commodities displayed on the displaying portionand displaying the information associated with the selected consumercommodity.

Another aspect of the invention is an information service method,comprising: synchronously transmitting program data and informationassociated with at least a program of the program data, receiving theprogram data and the information associated therewith, reproducing thereceived program data and displaying the reproduced data on a displayingdevice, and extracting information associated with a portion that aviewer desires and selects from a program displayed on the displayingdevice from the information associated with the program.

Yet another aspect of the invention is a data terminal unit, comprising:a processing portion for receiving program data and informationassociated therewith and reproducing the received program data, theprogram data being transmitted through a communication network, theinformation being transmitted in synchronization with the program data,a displaying portion for displaying the program data reproduced by theprocessing portion, and a commander operated by a viewer, whereininformation associated with a portion that the viewer desires andselects from a program displayed on the displaying portion from theinformation associated with the program.

A further aspect of the invention is a data transmitting and receivingapparatus, comprising: a transmitting portion for synchronouslytransmitting program data and information associated therewith through acommunication network, a processing portion for receiving the programdata and the information associated therewith that have beensynchronously transmitted through the communication network andreproducing the received program data, a displaying portion fordisplaying the program data reproduced by the processing portion, and acommander operated by a viewer, wherein information associated with aportion that the viewer desires and selects from a program displayed onthe displaying portion from the information associated with the program.

A further aspect of the invention is a data transmitting apparatus fortransmitting program data and information associated therewith so thatthe information associated with the program data is synchronized with apicture thereof.

The foregoing aspects, features and advantages of the present inventionwill be further appreciated when considered with reference to thefollowing detailed description and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall structure of a systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram for explaining the embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining several real examples ofassociated information according to the embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining a remote control commanderaccording to the embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Best Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

Next, with reference to the accompanying drawings, an embodiment of thepresent invention will be described. FIG. 1 schematically shows theoverall structure of a system according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. Reference numeral 101 represents a broadcasting station offor example a digital broadcast. In FIG. 1, the broadcasting station 101distributes a program to a home 120 using a satellite 103 (for example abroadcasting satellite BS or a communication satellite CS) or a groundwave 104. A bi-directional CATV network 102 is disposed between thebroadcasting station 101 and the home 120. A program is distributed tothe home 120 through the CATV network 102. The broadcasting station 101has a program information server 105, a program transmitting device 106,an exchange 107. The program information server 105 stores a programthat the broadcasting station 101 broadcasts. The program transmittingdevice 106 transmits a program as a broadcasting signal.

Associated information is distributed to the home 120 along with programdata distributed thereto through a satellite, a ground wave, a CATV, orthe like. The associated information contains various types of URLs(Uniform Resource Locators), commodity information, commodity dealingstores, and so forth. A URL is a system that represents a resource onInternet. Commodity associated information is data paired with a headerhaving an address of a bit map of a picture of a program. Musicassociated information contains detailed information of music of aprogram, information about a music obtaining method, and so forth.

As a method for distributing associated information in synchronizationwith program data, a packet of the associated information is multiplexedwith a picture packet and an audio packet of a program. In this case,while a picture packet and an audio packet are chronologicallysynchronized, the associated information can be synchronized therewith.Associated information is created for each program. In addition, it ispreferred to create associated information in a smaller unit than eachprogram (namely, for each segment of a program). For example, associatedinformation is created for each scene of a program. In the case of adrama or a movie, since each scene is known, associated information canbe created corresponding to each scene. Associated information iscreated by the broadcasting station 101 or a production company.

A service providing company 110 is connected to the CATV network 102.The service providing company 110 has a program information server 111and a network shopping server 112. The program information server 111and the network shopping server 112 allow a television shopping and anonline shopping to be accomplished through the CATV. When the CATVnetwork 102 is of bi-directional type, the viewers can perform an onlineshopping through the CATV network 102. Alternatively, the serviceproviding company 110 is connected to the home 120 through anotherbi-directional network such as a telephone line so as to allow an onlineshopping to be accomplished for the viewers through the network.

In addition, the service providing company 110 has a function forproviding associated information in a non-broadcasting periodcorresponding to a command that the viewer issues while he or she iswatching a program. When the viewer designates a picture of a commoditywhile watching a program, the designated information is stored. When theviewer requests associated information corresponding to the designatedinformation through the CATV network 102 or the other bi-directionalnetwork, the service providing company 110 provides the associatedinformation to the viewer through the CATV network 102 or the otherbi-directional network.

A transmitting and receiving terminal unit 121 is disposed in the home120. The transmitting and receiving terminal unit 121 is connected tothe CATV network 102, a receiving device (that includes an antenna thatreceives a satellite broadcast), a receiving device (that includes anantenna that receives a ground wave broadcast), a telephone line, and soforth. A television monitor 122, a personal computer 123, and atelephone set 124 are connected to the transmitting and receivingterminal unit 121. The television monitor 122 displays received programsof a CATV broadcast, a satellite broadcast, a ground wave broadcast, andso forth on its screen.

According to the embodiment, when a viewer who is watching a program onthe monitor 122 is interested in a commodity, a place, music, or thelike that appears on the program, he or she can designate it so thatassociated information thereabout is presented. With the presentedassociated information, the viewer can buy the designated commodity orobtain information about the buying method therefor.

FIG. 2 shows the state that a viewer is watching a program on thetelevision monitor 122. In the state, the viewer is interested in ahandbag that a guest of the program has and he or she wants to buy thehandbag if possible. According to the embodiment of the presentinvention, information about the handbag can be provided to the viewer.

FIG. 3 shows a process performed in such a case. When a viewer wants tobuy a consumer commodity such as a handbag that a guest of a program hasin a particular scene SC1 of a drama on a screen 1 of the televisionmonitor 122, he or she performs an operation for designating the displayposition of the handbag with a remote control commander 21. For example,the viewer operates the remote control commander 21 and places a cursor2 on the handbag on the screen 1 of the monitor 122.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the commander 21. A wireless bi-directionalcommunication path for example Bluetooth or IrDA is connected betweenthe commander 21 and the transmitting and receiving terminal unit 121 towhich the television monitor 122 is connected. Reference numeral 22 is atransmitting and receiving portion of wireless communication system.Bluetooth is a wireless communication system whose maximum datatransmission speed is 1 Mbits/sec and that uses a 2.4 GHz band. IrDA isa wireless communication system whose maximum data transmission speed is1 Mbits/sec and that uses an infrared ray. An interface that complieswith one of such wireless communication systems may be disposed in thecommander 21 or built in a memory card that can be attached and detachedto/from the commander 21.

The remote control commander 21 has a displaying portion 23 such as aliquid crystal display. The same picture (for example, the scene SC1 ofthe drama) as that displayed on the television monitor 122 is displayedon the screen of the displaying portion 23. With a direction key (alsoreferred to as cross key) 24 as a pointing device of the commander 21,the position of the cursor 2 is moved on the screen 1 of the monitor 122so that the cursor 2 is placed on a desired consumer commodity forexample a handbag. The cursor 2 may be always displayed on the screen ofthe television monitor 122. In the example, when the direction key 24 isoperated, the cursor 2 appears on the screen of the monitor 122.Alternatively, on the screen of the displaying portion 23 of thecommander 21, a cursor 2 a may appear. While the viewer is watching thescreen of the displaying portion 23, he or she may operate the directionkey 24 so that the cursor 2 a is placed on the handbag.

According to the embodiment, a viewer can designate a desired one fromcommodities that appear on at least one of the screen 1 of the monitor122 and the screen of the displaying portion 23 of the commander 21. Inaddition, as the pointing device, instead of the direction key 24 thatmoves the cursor, another structure can be used. For example, the screenof the displaying portion 23 of the commander 21 or the screen of thatdisplaying device other than the television monitor 122 may be a touchpanel. In this case, the viewer can designate his or her desiredcommodity by touching it on the screen. In addition, a cellular phonethat has a transmitting and receiving module that communicates with thetransmitting and receiving terminal unit 121 may be used as an indoorremote control commander.

In such a manner, the viewer designates his or her desired commodity (inthe above-described example, a handbag) in the scene SC1 of a programthat is being broadcast and presses the center portion of the directionkey 24 as a clicking operation. The viewer may designate his or herdesired commodity with a confirmation key other than the direction key24. When the viewer presses the center portion of the direction key 24,the commodity selecting operation performed by the viewer is completed.To acknowledge the selecting operation performed by the viewer, a lamp(for example, a light emitting diode) 25 lights. Reference numeral 26 isa lamp that indicates that the power of the commander 21 is turnedon/off so as to notify the user (namely, the viewer) that the power ofthe remote control commander 21 is turned on/off.

The transmitting and receiving terminal unit 121 receives a controlsignal that is generated corresponding to an operation of the commander21 and moves the cursor 2 on the screen 1 of the monitor 122. Theclicking operation of which the center portion of the direction key 24is pressed allows information (address of the bit map) at the designatedposition to be obtained.

As was described above, associated information that synchronizes withprogram data and that corresponds to positions on the screen isdistributed along with the program data. Thus, when the transmitting andreceiving terminal unit 121 obtains position information that the viewerhas designated with the commander 21 (the position information is forexample an address on the bit map), the transmitting and receivingterminal unit 121 extracts designated position information from theassociated information that synchronizes with the screen and presentsthe extracted associated information to the viewer. As shown in FIG. 3,an associated information window SC2 is displayed on a child screen 3 ofthe screen 1 by a superimposing method and presented to the viewer. Inthe case shown in FIG. 3, a handbag designated by the viewer isdisplayed as an enlarged picture on the child screen. When the viewerselects and designates a large commodity, the picture thereof may bedisplayed as a reduced picture on the child screen 3. As shown in FIG.4, the associated information window SC2 is displayed on the displayingportion 23. It is not necessary to display associated information onboth the screen of the television monitor 122 and the screen of thecommander 21. Instead, associated information about a consumer commodityselected and designated by the viewer can be displayed on at least oneof the screen of the television monitor 122 and the screen of thecommander 21.

Next, with reference to FIG. 3, an example of associated informationwill be described. While the associated information window SC2 isdisplayed on the child screen 3 of the television monitor 122, when aviewer presses a predetermined button (for example, the direction key24) of the commander 21, a window SC3 that shows the brand name of themanufacturer or seller, the product name, the model name, and the priceof the handbag corresponding to the associated information window SC2 isdisplayed on the child screen 3. When the viewer wants to buy thehandbag as a commodity displayed as the window SC3 on the child screen3, he or she operates a predetermined key, button, or the like of thecommander 21 so as to perform a predetermined buying operation for thehandbag corresponding to a predetermined method defined in a networkshopping SC4.

When the viewer wants to directly buy a commodity displayed as thewindow SC2 on the child screen 3 of the television monitor 122 at astore, he or she operates a predetermined key, button, or the like ofthe commander 21 so as to display a window SC5 that shows the addressand URL of the store that sells the handbag displayed on the childscreen 3. In such a case, when the viewer operates a predetermined key,button, or the like of the commander 21, a window SC6 that shows a mapof the store that sells the handbag is generated and displayed on themonitor 122 or the displaying portion 23 of the commander 21. Withinformation that the window SC5 or SC6 shows, the viewer can go to thestore and buy the desired commodity (in this example, a handbag) at thestore.

In the above-described example, a case of which a viewer obtains or buysa commodity that appears in a program was described. However, thepresent invention can be also applied for a case of which a viewerobtains information about a hotel, a restaurant, an amusement park, orthe like that appears in a program or that is used in a location of amovie. In other words, when a viewer wants to go to a hotel or the likethat appears in a program, he or she can perform the same operation asthe commodity buying operation. As a result, for example, the viewer canelectronically know the accommodation fee of the hotel and obtain themap thereof, and reserve a room thereof.

In addition, in a program that is broadcast, music is often used. Aviewer may want to know detailed information of music used in theprogram or obtain the music. In the case of music, unlike with a case ofwhich a viewer buys a commodity, he or she does not need to designate itusing position information on the screen. Thus, according to theembodiment, a music get button 27 is disposed on the commander 21. Whenthe viewer presses the music get button 27, he or she can obtain musicthat is used in the program.

As shown in FIG. 3, when the viewer presses the music get button 27, ajacket picture SC11 of a medium (for example, a CD (compact disc)) thatcontains music is displayed on the child screen 3 of the televisionmonitor 122. When the viewer wants to buy the music, he or she operatesa predetermined button or key so as to select one of several obtainingmethods.

As one of such methods, music is obtained with a window SC12 of EMD(Electronic Music Distribution). The window SC12 displayed on the childscreen 3 shows an EMD access method, EMD music identifiers, and soforth. Corresponding to the window SC12, the viewer can operate thepersonal computer 123 connected to the transmitting and receivingterminal unit 121 so as to download music used in the program to a harddisk of the personal computer 123 through a network service such as EMD.

As another music obtaining method, the viewer can operate the commander21 so as to obtain information of a store that sells a medium (forexample, a compact disc) that contains music used in the program with astore window SC13. With the store window SC13, the viewer can go to thestore and buy the compact disc at the store. The store informationcontains the address of the store and so forth. In addition, with thenetwork shopping SC14, the viewer can buy his or her desired music(namely, a medium that contains the music used in the program).

In addition, to reduce the workload of a program producer, associatedinformation may be only URLs of home pages. When a viewer performs aclicking operation on a predetermined screen, the URL and informationthat designates the program (broadcast channel and click timeinformation) are stored in a memory of the transmitting and receivingterminal unit 121. Alternatively, when the viewer places the cursor atthe display position of his or her desired commodity displayed on apredetermined screen and performs the clicking operation at theposition, information that designates the position on the screen isgenerated and stored.

After watching a program, a viewer can browse stored designatedinformation through the transmitting and receiving terminal unit 121 ora home page for the program through the personal computer 123 to whichdesignated information has been loaded. The home page for the programprovides information about commodities that appear in the program andmusic used therein. The home page is directly linked to the networkshopping. In this case, the network shopping includes what the serviceproviding company 110 shown in FIG. 1 provides. Since time informationof the designated information represents a screen on which the viewerhas performed the clicking operation, a commodity, music, and so forththat the viewer wants can be obtained. The network shopping providesdetailed information (price, order method, and so forth) aboutcommodities, music, and so forth.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.In other words, without departing from the scope of the presentinvention, various modifications and applications are available. Forexample, when a program is recorded to a storage medium such as a VTR, ahard disk, or an optical disc, associated information can be recorded sothat it synchronizes with the program.

According to the present invention, while a viewer is watching atelevision program, he or she can obtain information about his or herdesired commodity or music with a simple operation. In the case of acommodity, when the viewer designates a picture showing the commodity,he or she can obtain information necessary to buy the commodity. Inaddition, the commodity is displayed as an enlarged picture on a childscreen or a displaying portion of a remote control commander. Thus, theviewer can check the commodity. In the case of music, a jacket pictureof the designated music is displayed. Thus, the viewer can easily checkinformation associated with music. As a result, depending on how muchassociated information is associated with program information, thecontents of the provided service are determined. When various types ofassociated information are associated with programs, although the amountof information that the viewer can obtain increases, it becomesdifficult to create the associated information and distribute it alongwith programs. While the viewer is watching a program, if onlydesignated information is generated, he or she can watch the programwithout an interruption. In this case, after watching the program, theviewer can deliberately consider buying a commodity or music.

Although the invention herein has been described with reference toparticular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodimentsare merely illustrative of the principles and applications of thepresent invention. It is therefore to be understood that numerousmodifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that otherarrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

1. An information service method, comprising: receiving broadcastprogram data and information associated with a plurality of consumercommodities that appear in a broadcast program formed of the broadcastprogram data, the broadcast program having a predefined order, theinformation associated with the plurality of consumer commodities beingsynchronously transmitted with the broadcast program data; reproducingthe broadcast program in its predefined order from the receivedbroadcast program data; displaying the reproduced broadcast program on adisplay; selecting one of the plurality of consumer commodities byplacing a cursor on that commodity while that commodity appears in thedisplayed broadcast program; extracting the information associated withthe selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities from theinformation associated with the plurality of consumer commodities;displaying at least a portion of the information associated with theselected one of the plurality of consumer commodities on a child screensuperimposed on the reproduced broadcast program; and storinginformation about the selected one of the plurality of consumercommodities while the reproduced broadcast program is being displayed sothat the stored information about the selected one of the plurality ofconsumer commodities is accessible after the reproduced broadcastprogram is displayed.
 2. The information service method as set forth inclaim 1, wherein the method is a method for buying the selected one ofthe plurality of consumer commodities.
 3. The information service methodas set forth in claim 1, wherein an image representing the selected oneof the plurality of consumer commodities is displayed on the childscreen of the displaying portion.
 4. The information service method asset forth in claim 3, wherein the display of the image representing theselected one of the plurality of consumer commodities may be switchedwith a display of the information associated with the selected one ofthe plurality of consumer commodities on the child screen.
 5. Theinformation service method as set forth in claim 1, wherein theinformation associated with the selected one of the plurality ofconsumer commodities includes information selected from the groupconsisting of information about a price of the selected one of theplurality of consumer commodities, and information about a name thatdistinguishes the selected one of the plurality of consumer commodities.6. The information service method as set forth in claim 1, wherein theinformation associated with the selected one of the plurality ofconsumer commodities includes information about a store from which theselected one of the plurality of consumer commodities can be bought. 7.The information service method as set forth in claim 1, wherein theinformation associated with the selected one of the plurality ofconsumer commodities includes information regarding how the selected oneof the plurality of consumer commodities is purchased through a network.8. The information service method as set forth in claim 1, wherein thebroadcast program data and the information associated with the pluralityof consumer commodities are received through a bi-directionalcommunication network.
 9. The information service method as set forth inclaim 1, wherein the information associated with the selected one of theplurality of consumer commodities is paired with bit map addresses of adisplay screen of the broadcast program.
 10. The information servicemethod as set forth in claim 1, wherein the transmission of theinformation associated with the selected one of the plurality ofconsumer commodities is synchronized with an image from the broadcastprogram.
 11. The information service method as set forth in claim 1,further comprising: transmitting the stored information about theselected one of the plurality of consumer commodities to an externalapparatus, and receiving further information associated with the storedinformation about the selected one of the plurality of consumercommodities from the external apparatus.
 12. The information servicemethod as set forth in claim 1, further comprising: referring to thestored information about the selected one of the plurality of consumercommodities to access further information associated with the storedinformation about the selected one of the plurality of consumercommodities.
 13. The information service method as set forth in claim 1,wherein the broadcast program is selected from the group consisting of abroadcast dramatic program and a broadcast movie.
 14. The informationservice method as set forth in claim 1, wherein a given portion of theinformation associated with at least one of the plurality of consumercommodities is further associated with a particular scene of thebroadcast program.
 15. The information service method as set forth inclaim 1, wherein the cursor appears on the display portion of the remotecontrol but does not appear on the display.
 16. The information servicemethod as set forth in claim 1, further comprising: displaying the atleast portion of the information associated with the selected one of theplurality of consumer commodities on the display portion of the remotecontrol after the extracting step is carried out.
 17. The informationservice method as set forth in claim 16, wherein the at least portion ofthe information associated with the selected one of the plurality ofconsumer commodities is displayed on the display portion instead of thesuperimposed child screen.